Who plows your laneway

I'm James. I've plowed around Orangeville for fifteen winters, and most of what I know about country laneways I learned at 4 a.m. in a truck: which culvert sits just past the mailbox, how a gravel lane behaves in the first wet snow of November, how the wind drifts a laneway shut on a clear day, and how early you have to start to beat the school bus.

Cedar Rail Snow Co. grew out of all my past winters of plowing. Over the years I've come to enjoy the excitement of being out in an overnight storm and helping people. Now I run a lighter route, mostly residential, and I'm happy to keep offering it to a select group of customers. The company name comes from the split-rail cedar fences that run along the laneways out here. I love seeing them as I plow. They're plain, they last, and they mark the edge of a place without making a fuss about it. That's the standard.

Why the route stays small

Most complaints about plow services come down to one thing: too many driveways for the trucks. Someone at the end of the list waits until noon, and the phone goes to voicemail. I take about 12 laneways, all within about 20 minutes of Orangeville, and I do every one myself. If you text me, the person who answers is the person who was just in your laneway.

Before this I ran winter operations for more than a hundred properties a season, so a small route isn't the limit of what I can do. It's what I've chosen to do well. I'm a member of Landscape Ontario and have been Smart About Salt certified since 2015, which is also why I'm careful about what I don't spread on your laneway.

How a storm day runs

The evening before, I check the Environment Canada forecast, fuel up and lay out the gear. Once about 5 cm has fallen I start the route, in the order that gets everyone done soonest. Overnight snow is usually cleared before the morning commute. In a long storm I go around twice. I log every laneway as I go, with the time, and the route status page shows when I'm out and when I'm done.

What I promise, and what I don't

• I promise the price won't move all season, that I'll come back for the township windrow, and that I'll tell you straight when a storm or a breakdown has put me behind.
• I don't promise a set time, because the storm decides that. Signed-up customers come first and one-time call-ins normally come after the route, unless I happen to be right next door. On residential laneways I don't salt or sand, and as a rule I only shovel under special circumstances.